ABATE  M ENT 

of 


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Abatement  of  Smoke 


ECONOMY,  civic  pride  and  common  sense  all  call  for  the 
abatement  of  the  smoke  nuisance  that  is  destroying  over 
a million  dollars  worth  of  merchandise  and  property  in 
Rochester  every  year.  The  health  of  our  citizens  is  impaired 
and  many  beautiful  buildings  rendered  unsightly  by  this 
nuisance.  Some  years  ago  it  was  the  custom  to  point  with  pride 
to  the  “smoking  chimneys  of  prosperity,”  when,  as  a matter  of 
fact,  the  chimneys  were  smoking,  not  with  prosperity,  but 
because  they  were  wasting  so  much  burnable  fuel. 

The  power  plant  of  the  factory  which  makes  the  least  smoke 
is  operated  most  economically.  This  fact  is  being  acknowl- 
edged by  a larger  number  of  people  each  year.  When  it  is 
universally  known,  the  smoke  nuisance  will  be  eliminated. 

tf  A smoking  kerosene  lamp  would  not  be  tolerated  by  any- 
one, because  the  individual  using  the  lamp  would  be  the  one 
directly  affected  by  it.  The  condition  is  reversed  with  the 
smoking  chimney ; the  individual  causing  the  smoke  is  the  only 
one  not  directly  affected.  The  smoke  goes  over  his  head  and 
is  deposited  on  the  property  of  his  neighbor. 

*1  It  is  desirable  to  show  some  of  the  common  causes  of  black 
smoke  production,  and  the  kerosene  lamp  will  make  a good 
example.  Kerosene  oil  burning  in  a saucer,  smokes  badly,  but 
when  placed  in  the  reservoir  of  a properly  constructed  lamp, 
under  perfect  conditions,  there  is  no  smoke — on  the  contrary, 
there  is  gained  the  maximum  amount  of  light  and  heat. 

tf  When  the  wick  of  the  lamp  is  turned  too  high,  more  fuel 
is  supplied  than  the  combustion  chamber  of  the  lamp  can 
accommodate,  with  the  result  that  the  unburned  fuel  passes 
off  in  the  form  of  smoke.  This  is  equally  true  of  the  factory 
boiler  which  is  continuously  crowded  with  fuel  in  the  hope 
of  maintaining  a greater  head  of  steam  than  the  capacity  of  the 
installation  allows.  This  condition  is  very  common  in  small 
plants.  It  cannot  be  overcome  or  cured  until  the  basic  cause 
is  removed. 

*1  The  same  condition  may  arise  through  stopping  up  half  of 
the  holes  in  the  burner  of  the  kerosene  lamp.  In  this  case  you 
have  reduced  the  air  supply  instead  of  increasing  the  fuel 
supply.  The  result  is  the  same — the  unburned  fuel  becomes 
smoke.  Many  boiler  installations  have  inadequate  grate  capac- 
ities, and  even  under  a normal  firing  will  smoke  because  the 
grate  does  not  admit  sufficient  air.  The  only  remedy  is  a new 
grate. 

<1  There  are  two  other  items  of  faulty  construction  in  boiler 
plants ; first,  too  small  a combustion  chamber,  which  is  analo- 
gous to  too  small  a lamp  chimney  and  a smoke  stack  of  insuf- 
ficient size  to  conduct  the  gases  away  from  the  fire.  This 
latter  condition  might  be  compared  to  placing  a piece  of  card- 
board over  the  top  of  the  lamp  chimney. 


Causes 


Over 

Crowding 


Small 

Grates 


Page  one 


Abatement  of  Smoke 


Kinds 

of 

Prevention 


A 

Referen- 

dum 


It  is  evident  that  there  are  two  basic  causes  of  smoke  pro- 
duction— first — improper  firing,  and  second — faulty  construc- 
tion. When  these  conditions  are  remedied,  black  smoke  dis- 
appears. The  large  plant  that  is  of  faulty  construction  should 
be  rebuilt  to  meet  the  requirements.  It  would  be  a paying 
investment  in  the  point  of  economy.  Many  small  plants,  espe- 
cially heating  installations,  in  congested  sections,  cannot  be 
rebuilt  owing  to  the  surrounding  conditions,  and  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  the  public  demand  they  should  burn  semi- 
anthracite or  anthracite  coal,  and  should  have  a special  care 
in  the  firing.  In  the  use  of  soft  coal,  proper  equipment  and 
intelligent  operation  are  absolutely  essential  if  smoke  is  to  be 
prevented. 

Civic  pride  and  consideration  of  others  should  urge  the 
elimination  of  the  smoke  nuisance.  Considerations  of  economy 
added  to  the  foregoing  make  such  action  more  urgent.  In 
view  of  the  fact  that  each  year  sees  a more  solid  public  opinion 
opposed  to  the  production  of  black  smoke  because  of  waste, 
of  injury  to  one’s  neighbors,  buildings  and  merchandise,  of 
injury  to  the  health  and  cleanliness  of  the  City,  is  it  not  wise, 
as  well  as  public-spirited,  to  again  seriously  consider  whether 
a greater  effort  should  not  now  be  made  to  abate  the  smoke 
nuisance  in  your  plant? 


The  Letter  We  Sent  Out 

1.  Black  smoke  production  is  undesirable — no  one  likes  it, 

not  even  the  people  who  make  it.  The  smoke  destroys 
a million  dollars  of  merchandise  a year  in  Rochester. 
It  pollutes  the  air  and  the  soot  gets  into  houses,  offices 
and  stores,  making  a big  cleaning  expense.  That’s  the 
case  against  black  smoke. 

2.  Preventing  black  smoke  isn’t  always  easy — there  are  con- 

ditions which  must  be  taken  into  consideration.  Smoke 
consuming  devices  do  not  always  work  out.  Everyone 
can’t  use  hard  coal  or  semi-bituminous  because  of  the 
expense  involved.  That’s  the  case  for  the  man  who  is 
producing  black  smoke  in  more  than  legal  amounts. 

tj  Between  these  two  propositions  there  must  be  some  com- 
promise. We  take  it  for  granted  that  you  desire  to  eliminate 
the  smoke  nuisance  as  much  as  possible.  Will  you  write  us 
your  views  of  the  situation,  your  experience  both  in  your  own 
case  and  with  others? 

*1  The  Committee  has  gone  into  the  work  with  a determina- 
tion to  help,  not  to  hinder  business.  We  believe  much  can 
be  done  with  your  help  if  the  good  will  of  all  can  be  focused 
and  used  to  good  advantage.  Won’t  you  give  it — at  least  by 
writing  us  your  experience  with  the  problem? 


B 


do 


» 


YAWMAN  & ERBE  MFG.  COMPANY 

d We  believe  this  subject  is  one  of  great  importance  to  manu- 
facturers, as  well  as  the  public  at  large,  and  one,  the  condi- 
tions of  which,  cannot  be  met  with  very  easily. 

d We  have  had  considerable  experience  at  our  different  plants 
in  trying  to  overcome  this  smoke  nuisance,  and  getting  all 
possible  benefit  out  of  the  unburned  carbon  which  floats  away 
in  the  air,  but  the  proposition  has  been  a hard  one.  There  is 
no  stoker  nor  method  in  use  today  which  is  absolutely  ‘‘fool- 
proof” or  automatic  so  that  conditions  could  be  governed  with- 
out the  aid  of  an  experienced  fireman. 

d We  have  found  that  stokers  or  Dutch  Ovens  work  out  fairly 
well  if  they  are  properly  operated,  but  it  all  depends  on  the 
man  in  front  of  the  boilers.  You  can  make  a stoker  smoke  as 
badly  as  a common  setting  if  you  do  not  handle  the  stoker 
right.  This  has  been  proven  at  our  St.  Paul  Street  Plant. 
Before  we  built  our  Gates  Plant  all  the  woodwork  was  cut 
and  sawed  at  the  St.  Paul  Street  Plant ; therefore,  we  burned 
all  our  shavings. 

A Shavings  and  wood  are  supposed  to  give  a clear  fire,  with 
a yellowish  or  light  brownish  smoke  of  very  thin  character. 
We  burned  both  shavings  and  coal  in  the  same  furnace,  and 
even  with  the  use  of  stokers  there  were  several  occasions  where 
the  smoke  inspector  made  complaint  against  us  on  account 
of  the  smoke. 

d We  cautioned  our  people,  and  even  went  as  far  as  to  dis- 
charge various  firemen.  The  best  results  we  obtained  under 
such  conditions  were  with  men  who  understand  the  combus- 
tion of  coal,  and  keep  their  furnaces  in  good  working  order. 

d After  the  Gates  Plant  was  installed  the  Wood-working 
'Departments  were  moved  there,  with  the  result  that  the  burn- 
ing of  shavings  was  practically  eliminated  from  the  St.  Paul 
Street  Plant,  the  result  being  that  we  produced  more  smoke, 
and  had  to  be  more  careful  with  our  firemen  to  avoid  this 
nuisance. 

d At  the  Gates  Plant  our  Dutch  Oven  works  out  equally  as 
well  as  the  stokers,  and  even  better  when  we  are  burning 
mostly  shavings.  We  have  very  little  smoke,  and  such  as  we 
get  is  of  a very  light  brownish  color,  so  that  it  is  not  objec- 
tionable; having  also  a good  fireman  who  understands  com- 
bustion very  thoroughly,  we  are  able  to  cut  the  smoke  down 
to  a minimum. 

d Considering  all  the  various  ways  of  combusting  fuel,  our 
experience  has  demonstrated  to  us  that  it  is  absolutely  up  to 
the  fireman — he  can  control  the  smoke  without  trouble,  and 
our  belief  is  that  the  only  way  to  overcome  this  nuisance  is, 
not  to  attack  the  manufacturers,  but  get  after  the  men  who 
are  causing  this  nuisance.  We  cannot  run  our  factories  with- 


Nothing 

‘Foolproof 


Dutch 

Ovens 


Shavings 


The 

Fireman 


B 


Page  three 


K 


■K 


Something  About  “Consumers" 


Steam 

Jets 


Slack 

Coal 


out  fuel ; neither  can  we  stand  over  our  firemen  all  day  long 
to  see  that  they  are  not  making  any  smoke,  and  we  do  not 
cherish  the  idea  of  being  summoned  before  Court  because  our 
fireman  has  been  careless  and  allowed  his  furnace  to  smoke 
when  we  may  have  been  out  of  town  and  could  not  control 
the  situation. 

We  believe  that  a strict  law  governing  firemen  would  have 
better  results  in  eliminating  the  smoke  nuisance  than  all  the 
smoke  consumers,  stokers  and  new  fangled  ideas  put  before 
the  public  today.  Moritz  Wiesner, 

General  Superintendent. 

BLAIR  CAMERA  DIVISION 

EASTMAN  KODAK  COMPANY 

Replying  to  Bulletin  4-11  relative  to  the  prevention  of  smoke 
in  Rochester,  would  state  that  at  this  factory,  which  is  located 
at  1447  St.  Paul  Street,  we  have  used  for  the  past  six  years 
a so-called  “smoke  consumer”  which  is  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  forced  draft  operated  by  steam  jet  over  the  fire  for  five 
minutes  after  firing  the  boilers.  By  use  of  this  steam  jet  over 
fire  we  eliminate  about  85%  of  the  black  smoke;  in  other 
words,  when  the  boilers  are  first  fired,  for  a period  of  perhaps 
1 to  1^4  minutes,  there  is  some  black  smoke  that  comes  from 
the  chimney,  but  after  that  time  there  is  practically  none,  and 
this  helps  to  a great  degree  to  do  away  with  the  smoke  nuisance. 
While  it  is  not  perfection,  yet  it  is  a good  step  toward  clean- 
liness of  the  air. 

There  are  many  Companies  that  advertise  smoke  consumers, 
increased  efficiency,  etc.,  but  all  of  them  fall  short  of  being 
perfect.  Another  way  of  eliminating  smoke  is  by  careful  firing. 
Boilers  that  are  fired  properly  will  not  throw  off  within  50% 
as  much  black  smoke  as  boilers  that  are  fired  carelessly.  The 
writer  is  heartily  in  favor  of  doing  away  with  the  smoke  nuis- 
ance as  far  as  it  can  be  done,  without  handicapping  the  manu- 
facturing interests  of  the  city,  for  without  these  manufactur- 
ing interests  the  city  would  not  be  what  it  is  today. 

F.  W.  Barnes,  Manager. 

THE  PFAUDLER  COMPANY 
^ In  reply  to  your  Bulletin  No.  4-11,  it  is  my  experience,  as 
manager  of  a manufacturing  plant  containing  three  350  horse 
power  boilers  all  operated  to  their  maximum  capacity,  that  it 
is  possible  to  use  bituminous  slack  coal  and  entirely  eliminate 
smoke. 

*1  It  does  not  follow  that  our  method  could  be  applied  to  every 
boiler  but  it  is  a fact  that  smoke  can  be  prevented  by  the  use 
of  mechanical  appliances  and  proper  fire  box  arrangements. 

Each  situation  demands  special  treatment,  but  it  is  possible 
to  eliminate  the  smoke  nuisance  in  every  case,  and  at  the  same 
time  keep  the  expense  within  reason. 


& 


Page  four 


Correct  Installations 


Ignorance  in  installations  and  ignorance  in  firing,  both  of 
which  are  entirely  preventable, — are  responsible  for  90%  of 
the  cases  which  today  are  a nuisance. 

A man  should  no  more  be  permitted  to  discharge  black 
smoke  into  the  air  to  the  detriment  of  his  neighbors’  health 
or  property,  than  he  should  to  permit  noxious  fumes  from 
chemicals  to  go  abroad. 

The  State  stops  the  latter  immediately,  although  there  is  no 
question  but  that  more  damage  today  to  health  and  property 
results  from  the  smoke  nuisance  than  from  the  fumes  of  chem- 
icals. The  main  reason  for  the  smoke  nuisance  today  is  ignor- 
ance all  along  the  line.  Just  as  soon  as  that  is  cured,  the 
nuisance  can  be  removed.  E.  G.  Miner, 

Vice-President. 


MECHANICS  INSTITUTE 

At  the  request  of  our  President,  Mr.  Gibson,  I am  answer- 
ing your  Bulletin  No.  4-11  in  regard  to  prevention  of  smoke 
in  Rochester.  I believe  that  in  all  new  power  plants  above  100 
H.  P.,  proper  stokers,  properly  installed,  with  proper  sized 
chimneys,  will  practically  eliminate  smoke  if  the  boilers  are 
not  being  forced  far  beyond  their  rating  or  are  not  called  on 
suddenly  to  respond  to  a peak  load.  Plants  under  this  size 
can  be  taken  care  of  with  shaking  grates,  good  draft  condi- 
tions and  good  chimneys  fairly  satisfactorily,  good  draft  con- 
ditions being  a very  important  item.  It  is  possible  in  many 
of  these  plants  to  burn  bituminous  coal  and  in  many 
the  use  of  steam  jet  devices  is  an  aid.  Many  of  these 
plants  can  be  helped  out  materially  also  by  mixing  a certain 
amount  of  anthracite  or  semi-anthracite  screenings.  Many 
small  plants  can  afford  to  use  semi-bituminous  coal,  which, 
with  proper  care  can  be  burned  fairly  smokeless.  I would  like 
to  say  that  steam  jets  are  a help  in  many  cases  but  not  always. 

<J  The  hardest  condition  to  meet  is  to  adapt  old  plants  to 
smokeless  conditions  without  excessive  expense  in  resetting 
boilers,  enlarging  stacks  and  breeching  connections.  Intelli- 
gent firing  means  a great  deal,  but  the  principal  trouble  is 
that  when  you  get  an  intelligent  fireman  he  soon  becomes  an 
engineer,  and  you  lose  him  as  a fireman. 

Allen  S.  Crocker, 
Supt.  Department  Industrial  Arts. 


From 

An 

Expert 


AMERICAN  EXPRESS  COMPANY 
<J  Referring  to  your  bulletin  under  heading  “Prevention  of 
Smoke  in  Rochester,”  I beg  to  advise  that  I am  unable  to  give 
you  any  information  of  value  from  personal  experience.  I 
only  recently  became  a resident  of  Rochester  after  a residence 
of  twenty  odd  years  in  New  York  City  where  the  smoke  nui- 
sance has  been  abated  by  the  use  of  hard  coal.  I understand  the 


An 

Observer 


85- 


Testimony  on  “Stokers” 


same  regulation  cannot  be  exacted  in  this  city  on  account  of 
the  cost  involved. 


^ The  only  means  I can  see  is  to  enlist  the  co-operation  and 
stimulate  enthusiasm  of  the  consumers  toward  elimination  of 
the  nuisance  as  far  as  practicable  under  the  present  regula- 
tions, commencing  with  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  Building. 
*1  The  first  impression  I got  of  Rochester,  and  it  was  more 
pronounced  than  since  I became  accustomed  by  environment, 
was  the  pall  of  black  smoke  all  over  the  city  and  its  resultant 
effect  upon  buildings  and  trees.  W.  H.  Dodd, 

General  Agent. 


A 

Successful 

Plant 


THE  HAYDEN  COMPANY 

<1  In  answer  to  your  request  for  the  experience  of  the  members 
in  connection  with  the  Smoke  Nuisance  and  the  prevention 
of  same,  I take  pleasure  in  citing  our  own  experience  in  the 
matter,  and  how  we  have  successfully  fought  against  same  in 
our  own  establishment,  with  the  results  that  today  it  is  a rare 
occurrence  that  the  slightest  particle  of  smoke  is  emitted  from 
our  chimney. 

<1  We  consume  soft  coal  slack,  which  would  probably  produce 
as  much  smoke  as  any  fuel  used.  The  way  we  overcome  the 
difficulty  of  smoke  is  by  first  providing  plenty  of  boiler  capac- 
ity, so  that  the  fire  is  not  forced  to  an  unusual  degree.  We 
fire  our  furnaces  with  an  underfeed  stoker  and  a fan  blower. 
By  means  of  this  underfeed  stoker  the  gases  and  smoke  aris- 
ing from  the  fresh  coal  are  entirely  consumed  by  perfect  com- 
bustion. The  only  time  we  are  ever  bothered  with  the  smoke 
nuisance  is  in  case  of  making  a fresh  fire  when  we  are  obliged 
to  put  coal  on  the  top  of  the  fire. 

^1  We  believe  that  our  success  in  the  elimination  of  smoke  is 
due  largely  to  our  exceedingly  large  boiler  capacity. 

I.  Elbert  Scrantom. 


Firemen 
and  Coal 


M.  S.  PHELPS  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY 
€J  In  re  prevention  of  smoke  in  Rochester,  we  beg  to  say  that 
we  believe  if  the  firemen  would  give  this  matter  thought  and 
do  their  part  it  would  help  in  a large  way  to  eliminate  the 
nuisance.  If  a fireman  uses  discretion  in  firing  and  sprinkles 
the  coal  lightly,  most  of  the  smoke  is  consumed  before  it  gets 
in  the  stack.  Of  course,  this  necessitates  firing  often. 

•I  The  nuisance  could  be  entirely  done  away  with  if  in  the 
down  town  district  all  and  everybody  would  use  buckwheat 
hard  coal.  Surely  those  who  have  the  interest  of  our  City 
at  heart  would  be  willing  to  do  this. 

C|  We  trust  that  you  will  succeed  in  the  “good  work”  and  rid 
our  city  of  its  reputation  for  soft  coal  smoke. 

M.  S.  Phelps,  President. 


85- 


Page  six 


85 


From  Four  Factories 


W.  N.  CLARK  COMPANY 

Your  Bulletin  No.  4-11  on  the  “Prevention  of  Smoke  in 
Rochester”  at  hand.  In  reply  to  the  same  would  say  that  so 
far  as  conditions  at  our  plant  are  concerned,  we  make  but 
very  little  smoke,  and  do  not  think  that  any  of  our  neighbors 
will  have  occasion  to  find  fault  with  us  on  this  account.  We 
burn  nut  and  slack  soft  coal  mixed  with  hard  screenings  in 
equal  proportions.  In  order  to  burn  as  fine  coal  as  this,  we 
use  forced  draft.  The  combination,  however,  works  out  very 
well,  and  we  consider  our  method  of  firing  entirely  satisfactory. 

Howard  W.  Clark,  President. 


EASTMAN  KODAK  COMPANY 
In  our  opinion  the  prevention  of  black  smoke  when  burning 
soft  coal  is  best  accomplished  by  careful  stoking.  This  is  pos- 
sible, of  course,  when  boilers  are  hand  fired,  but  more  easily 
accomplished  by  means  of  mechanical  stoking;  accordingly, 
our  boiler  plant  has  been  equipped  with  mechanical  stokers, 
economizers,  etc.,  and  the  flue  gases  are  led  into  the  high  chim- 
ney and  as  a further  precaution,  the  flue  gases  are  automati- 
cally tested  and  the  per  cent,  of  carbonic  acid  gases  they  con- 
tain is  registered  on  charts.  J.  H.  Haste, 

Manager  Kodak  Park. 


Careful 

Stoking 


CLUM  & ATKINSON 

^ Replying  to  your  circular  letter,  Bulletin  No.  4-11,  would 
say  our  idea  of  the  causes  of  excessive  black  smoke  is  that 
it  is  due  to  either  poorly  constructed  flues  which  do  not  pro- 
vide the  necessary  conditions  for  perfect  combustion,  or  it 
may  be,  and  often  is,  caused  by  a plant  being  over-crowded  and 
the  boiler  equipment,  fires,  etc.,  being  forced  beyond  their 
capacity,  or  in  other  cases,  it  is  due  to  improper  firing.  We 
believe  any  steps  looking  to  the  correction  of  these  three  faults, 
or  such  of  them  as  exist,  will  go  a long  way  toward  the  abate- 
ment of  smoke.  G.  T.  Mason,  Office  Manager. 

ROCHESTER  BUSINESS  INSTITUTE 
<1  I have  found  in  my  own  company,  the  American  Drafting 
Furniture  Company,  that  it  is  possible  to  substantially  elimi- 
nate all  black  smoke  by  educating  the  fireman  in  the  matter  of 
stoking.  It  is  difficult  to  find  a man  who  is  intelligent  and 
conscientious  enough  at  the  same  time  to  carry  out  instruc- 
tions. I presume  my  case  is  like  that  of  other  manufacturers, 
namely,  we  are  anxious  to  find  some  device  that  will  mechani- 
cally prevent  black  smoke,  so  that  we  may  not  be  entirely  sub- 
ject to  the  lack  of  conscience  or  lack  of  intelligence  of  our 
firemen. 

I wish  to  assure  you  of  my  personal  hearty  co-operation  in 
the  work  which  you  are  undertaking.  John  F.  Forbes, 

Secretary  and  Treasurer. 


Forcing 


Good 

Fireman 


Page  seven 


Smoke  Can  Be  Eliminated 


Hard 

Coal 

in 

Dwellings 


Enforce 

Ordinance 


AMERICAN  LAUNDRY  MACHINERY  COMPANY 
*1  In  reply  to  Bulletin  No.  4-11,  subject,  ‘‘Prevention  of  Smoke 
in  Rochester,”  my  experience  in  manufacturing  industries  for 
a great  many  years  has  convinced  me  thoroughly  that  the 
smoke  nuisance  is  not  at  all  necessary  and  can  be  eliminated 
entirely,  especially  in  a city  like  Rochester  situated  as  we  are 
close  enough  to  the  hard  coal  fields  and  where  hard  coal  is 
used  almost  exclusively  in  the  household.  Therefore,  the  only 
place  we  have  to  direct  our  attention  to  the  abatement  of  the 
smoke  nuisance  is  to  the  factory  chimney  which  makes  it  an 
easy  subject  to  solve. 

<1  Comparing  our  city  with  some  of  the  western  and  south- 
western cities  where  hard  coal  is  sold  from  $8  to  $15  per  ton, 
soft  coal  can  be  bought  for  from  $2  to  $3  per  ton,  and  with 
90%  of  the  households  burning  soft  coal,  it  makes  it  rather  a 
difficult  problem  to  eliminate  the  smoke  nuisance,  but  in  our 
city  we  should  be  very  thankful  that  we  have  not  this  question 
to  contend  with  and  our  attention  should  be  directed  to  the 
manufacturer. 

^ There  are  several  very  good  smoke  consumers  that  will  do 
their  work  if  directions  are  carried  out.  Of  course,  you  cannot 
take  any  boiler  plant  and  overload  it  100%  and  equip  same 
with  smoke  consumers  or  automatic  stokers  that  will  reduce 
the  overrated  amount  of  power  and  eliminate  smoke,  but  with 
any  well  balanced  power  plant  equipped  with  serviceable 
stoker,  it  is  possible  to  burn  soft  coal  at  a decrease  of  cost  and 
entirely  eliminate  the  smoke  nuisance. 

^ The  types  of  boilers  used  in  power  plants  vary  considerably 
but  any  well  designed  boiler  should  give  equally  good  results, 
and  it  is  fair  to  say  that  any  boiler  will  produce  from  10  to  20% 
more  evaporation  per  pound  of  coal,  with  perfect  combustion 
as  can  be  obtained  from  automatic  stokers,  than  by  hand  firing. 
*1  In  my  estimation  there  is  absolutely  no  excuse  at  this  date 
why  our  City  Council  should  not  enforce  the  smoke  abatement 
ordinance  to  the  letter.  The  only  possible  excuse  that  the  manu- 
facturer could  offer  is  the  question  of  first  cost  in  properly 
equipping  power  plants,  but  if  they  take  into  consideration  the 
increased  heat  unit  with  proper  combustion,  I am  satisfied  the 
saving  would  show  a handsome  profit  on  the  investment. 

D.  M.  Cooper,  President. 

WOOD-MOSAIC  COMPANY,  INC. 

C[  We  have  tried  one  of  those  Air  Mixing  Flue  arrangements 
which  was  supposed  to  give  a secondary  combustion  of  smoke. 

We  have  also  equipped  our  two  boilers  with  the Smoke 

Consumer. 

*J  The  first  arrangement  increased  our  draft  and  we  rather 
think  decreased  our  smoke,  but  not  enough  for  us  to  be  quite 
sure  on  the  subject.  The Smoke  Consumer  certainly 


Page  eight 


Careful  Firing  Essential 


dampens  down  the  smoke  while  firing,  but  we  have  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  it  only  delays  the  result.  When  it  stops 
working,  the  smoke  is  quite  noticeable.  It  delays  and  thins 
out  the  smoke  cloud,  but  we  are  inclined  to  believe  that  the  net 
amount  of  black  smoke  is  not  very  much  decreased,  although 
it  is  spread  over  a longer  period  of  time  in  escaping. 

51  The  only  way  that  we  find  we  can  keep  down  black  smoke 
is  by  our  careful  firing.  Our  engineer  watches  this  so  care- 
fully that  we  cannot  tell  when  he  has  the  smoke  consumer  run- 
ning and  when  he  has  not,  from  observation. 

51  The  only  time  we  have  a noticeable  amount  of  smoke  is 
when  we  are  burning  an  excessive  amount  of  wood  refuse. 
This  we  cannot  avoid  and  we  get  it  whether  we  are  using 
smoke  consumer  or  not. 

51  We  never  put  enough  of  this  wood  in  at  one  time  to  make 
the  smoke  run  over  the  allowed  firing  limit.  We  have  had  the 
smoke  inspector  tell  us  that  ours  is  pretty  nearly  the  only 
chimney  along  the  line  from  which  he  hears  no  complaints. 
The  only  conclusion  we  have  come  to  is  that  in  our  case,  at 
least,  careful  firing  is  absolutely  necessary. 

H.  H.  Barclay,  Secretary. 


D.  ARMSTRONG  & COMPANY 
51  In  regard  to  your  request  for  views  on  smoke  prevention  in 
Rochester,  would  say  that  we  think  it  impossible  to  entirely 
prevent  smoke  in  operating  steam  boilers  by  burning  soft  coal 
if  the  boiler  is  worked  up  to  or  near  its  maximum  capacity. 
However,  by  using  a good  smoke  consumer,  of  which  there 
are  several  on  the  market,  and  by  careful  attention  of  the 
operator  much  black  smoke  can  be  avoided. 

51  We  get  about  240  H.  P.  out  of  two  125  H.  P.  Marine  type 

boilers,  equipped  with  the  stoker,  by  operating  them 

as  follows : when  necessary  to  break  up  the  fires  only  one  side 
of  one  boiler  is  opened  at  a time,  broken  up  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible, and  the  fire-door  closed;  then  in  about  ten  minutes  the 
same  thing  is  done  to  the  other  side.  By  this  method  we  can 
hold  the  pressure  even,  and  not  make  an  excessive  amount  of 
black  smoke  during  the  run.  Our  experience  has  been  that 
a good  stack  draught  and  clean  soot  chambers  help  greatly  in 
clean  burning  of  coal,  therefore,  less  black  smoke. 

D.  Armstrong  & Company. 

L.  ADLER  BROS.  & CO. 

51  Answering  Bulletin  No.  4-11,  we  use  the  Stokers, 

and  have,  practically  speaking,  no  smoke. 

51  In  our  previous  plant  we  found  that  the  injection  of  a steam 
jet,  permitting  air  to  be  carried  through  the  furnace  opening  at 
the  same  time,  was  fairly  effective  in  cutting  down  the  amount 
of  smoke. 


A 

Good 

Tip 


Consideration  to  Manufacturer 


The  smoke  nuisance  is  a crime  against  the  welfare  of  the 
city,  and  every  available  means  of  eliminating  it  should  be 
adopted. 

*1  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  your  committee  will  not  let  go  its  work 
until  the  problem  has  been  solved. 

Max  A.  Adler,  Secretary. 


Difficulties 


HUBBARD,  ELDREDGE  & MILLER 

Referring  to  your  request  for  a statement  of  our  experience 
in  endeavoring  to  do  away  with  objectionable  smoke,  we  beg 
to  say  that  we  have  used  two  devices  and  are  now  trying  a 
third.  None  of  these  have  proven  entirely  effective  under  all 
conditions.  So  much  depends  upon  the  quality  of  the  coal, 
the  capacity  of  the  boiler,  the  atmospheric  conditions  and  espe- 
cially the  conscientious  co-operation  of  the  fireman,  we  are 
persuaded  that  even  the  best  device  will  fail  to  wholly  remove 
the  difficulty. 

Assuming  that  a new  plant  constructed  on  the  latest  scien- 
tific lines  would  almost  entirely  consume  the  smoke,  it  would 
manifestly  be  unfair  to  require  a manufacturer  to  discard  an 
equipment  in  which  thousands  of  dollars  may  be  invested.  In 
our  judgment,  the  conditions  call  for  united,  intelligent  and 
persistent  effort  to  reduce  the  trouble  to  a minimum,  and  such 
effort  will  ultimately  result  in  a great  betterment,  but  reason- 
able consideration  should  be  shown  to  the  manufacturer  who 
is  honestly  doing  all  in  his  power  to  abate  the  smoke  nuisance. 

W.  A.  Hubbard,  President. 


Read 

This 

One 


CHARLES  H.  WILTSIE 

€J  I am  in  receipt  of  the  circular  letter  of  your  Committee  ask- 
ing for  suggestions  and  recital  of  experiences  on  the  above 
subject.  This  subject  of  smoke  abatement  has  interested  me 
for  many  years.  I have  watched  with  interest  the  development 
and  improvement  of  various  types  of  automatic  stokers  and 
smoke  consumers.  During  the  past  year  I have  been  especially 
interested  as  a member  of  the  Committee  in  charge  of  the  con- 
struction of  the  new  boiler  house  and  heating  and  lighting 
plant  at  the  Mechanics  Institute  on  Plymouth  Avenue.  In  the 
old  power  plant  a type  of  smoke  consumer  built  eight  or  ten 
years  ago,  was  used  with  a great  deal  of  satisfaction,  so  that 
though  the  boiler  house  was  located  in  a residential  section  in 
the  third  ward,  it  was  seldom  that  any  complaint  was  heard 
because  of  black  smoke  from  the  chimneys. 

In  the  new  boiler  house  constructed  last  Spring,  a better 
type  of  stokers  and  smoke  consumers  has  been  installed  and  a 
taller  chimney  constructed,  so  that  the  chimney  top  is  practi- 
cally clean  90%  of  the  time.  Very  little  smoke  comes  from 
it  at  any  time. 


Page  ten 


A Very  Thorough  Analysis 


^ I am  convinced,  furthermore,  that  these  new  stokers  will 
pay  for  themselves  in  the  resulting  economy  of  fuel  in  three 
or  four  years  at  the  longest.  It  will  pay  any  man,  interested 
in  this  subject,  to  examine  and  study  this  new  boiler  plant  at 
the  Mechanics  Institute.  It  was  installed  and  constructed 
under  the  supervision  of  Mr.  Crocker. 

If  such  results  can  be  achieved  in  one  boiler  plant,  why  can 
they  not  be  achieved  in  others  ? The  installation  of  such  smoke 
consumers  means  an  initial  expense  which  will  be  more  than 
covered  in  ultimate  savings  in  fuel.  I firmly  believe  that  two 
or  three  types  of  smoke  consumers  have  been  so  far  perfected 
at  the  present  time  that  your  Committee  is  warranted  in  taking 
a decisive  stand  in  seeking  ordinances  from  the  Common  Coun- 
cil forbidding  the  construction  of  any  new  boiler  plants  within 
the  city  limits  in  the  future,  above  a certain  horse-power,  with- 
out the  installation  of  smoke  consumers,  and  that  boiler  plants 
under  a certain  fixed  horse-power,  be  required  to  use  only  hard 
coal,  or  some  form  of  coal  that  will  burn  without  black  smoke. 

This  is  my  main  suggestion  and  I believe  it  practical  and 
warrantable.  If  you  can  prevent  the  future  installation  of 
boiler  plants  without  smoke  consumers,  much  will  be  accom- 
plished. Our  highest  State  Court,  the  Court  of  Appeals,  has 
now  decided  that  a city  ordinance  regulating  the  smoke  ques- 
tion, is  legal.  As  the  construction  of  buildings  is  under  the 
supervision  of  a building  department  and  stringent  regulations 
have  been  provided  in  order  to  provide  against  fires  and  to 
safeguard  health,  it  seems  to  me  that  such  regulations  as  I 
have  suggested  above,  will  be  perfectly  legal  and  warrantable. 

As  a second  suggestion,  I think  that  all  large  boiler  plants 
in  the  center  of  the  city,  such  as  are  used  in  public  buildings 
and  office  buildings,  and  which  are  above  a certain  horse-power 
capacity,  should  be  ordered  to  be  equipped  with  smoke  con- 
sumers within  twelve  or  eighteen  months  and  that  all  manu- 
facturing plants  above  a certain  horse-power,  should  be  brought 
within  the  same  classification. 

^ It  is  not  to  the  point  for  me  to  recite  my  own  personal 
annoyances  and  losses  because  of  office  building  chimneys  close 
to  the  windows  of  the  offices  in  which  I spend  my  working 
life ; but  it  is  hard  for  me  to  understand  why  I should  suffer 
such  annoyances  and  losses  from  the  nuisance  of  black  smoke 
from  nearby  office  building  chimneys  in  order  that  the  owners 
of  such  properties  may  increase  the  annual  profits  or  income 
of  their  buildings  by  the  difference  in  cost  between  a low  grade 
of  soft  coal  and  a satisfactory  grade  of  anthracite  coal.  The 
owners  of  such  buildings  are  making  the  increased  income  or 
profit  from  their  properties,  while  I and  hundreds  of  others 
are  enduring  the  nuisance  and  paying  losses  in  various  forms, 
in  the  aggregate,  much  exceeding  such  increased  profits. 


Good 

Stokers 


An 

Ordinance 


Legality 


A 

Good 

Point 


Page  eleven 


Suitable  Coal — Intelligent  Firing 


If  cities  like  New  York  and  Washington  have  no  smoke 
nuisance  because  of  stringent  regulations,  why  cannot  Roch- 
ester have  equally  favorable  conditions? 


Smoke 
and  the 
Tariff 


^ This  smoke  question  in  a city  like  Rochester,  is  quite  analo- 
gous to  the  Tariff  question.  The  man  whose  business  is  con- 
suming a large  amount  of  coal,  wishes  to  continue  the  privilege 
at  the  expense  of  all  the  rest  of  the  community.  The  man  who 
manufactures  steel,  wishes  his  protection  through  the  Tariff 
at  the  expense  of  all  the  consuming  community.  It  is  not  a 
question  of  the  ability  of  either  to  exist  and  to  make  money. 
The  question  so  far  as  smoke  is  concerned,  is  whether  he  shall 
be  able  to  make  a little  more  money  by  adding  to  his  profits 
the  difference  in  price  between  a low  cost  fuel  and  a high  cost 
fuel. 

I would  not  favor  any  action  on  this  subject  that  would  put 
any  manufacturer  out  of  business,  or  handicap  him  in  competi- 
tion against  others;  but  the  difference  in  the  cost  of  the  two 
kinds  of  fuel,  does  not  mean  this.  If  it  were  possible  to  com- 
pel every  fuel  consumer,  tomorrow,  to  burn  only  anthracite, 
the  increased  cost  would  not  put  any  manufacturer  out  of  busi- 
ness. It  would,  of  course,  lessen  his  annual  profits  somewhat ; 
but  I believe  that  the  benefits  that  would  accrue  to  the  whole 
city  in  consequence,  would,  in  value,  more  than  make  up  this 
difference.  C.  H.  Wiltsie. 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  LEWIS  P.  ROSS 

Answering  your  circular  in  re  Smoke  Prevention  will  say 
that  in  our  plant  we  have  two  boilers  which  are  used  for  heat- 
ing purposes  only.  Our  location  is  such  that  we  are,  of  course, 
subjected  to  pretty  close  scrutiny,  our  boilers  and  stack  being 
located  on  the  Division  Street  end  of  our  building,  bringing 
them  very  close  to  the  rear  windows  of  the  Department  Stores 
on  Main  Street  and  Clinton  Avenue. 

We  have  no  mechanical  stokers  or  any  device  in  the  way  of 
a smoke  consumer  and  our  problem  has  been  settled,  so  far  as 
it  is  settled,  by  just  two  things,  namely:  experimentation  until 
we  found  a suitable  coal,  and  second,  intelligent  firing  and 
stoking. 

For  some  time  we  have  been  using  what  is  known  as  Smoke- 
less coal,  and  by  exercising  care  in  running  the  boiters  we 
believe  that  we  have  kept  our  smoke  nuisance  at  a minimum 
point  and  that  we  at  least  have  far  excelled  many  of  our  neigh- 
bors whose  stacks  are  in  plain  sight  of  our  windows. 

*1  It  is  our  desire,  of  course,  to  co-operate  in  any  reasonable 
way  in  abating  the  smoke  nuisance,  the  iniquity  of  which  we 
fully  recognize.  We  have  done  and  are  now  doing  all  that  we 
can  to  minimize  causes  for  complaint  so  far  as  we  are  con- 
cerned, and  in  this  respect  we  might  say  that  for  the  past  two 


Page  twelve 


Some  Experiments 


years  no  complaint  has  been  made  to  us,  so  far  as 
we  have  known,  and  no  complaints  have  been  made  directly 
to  us  with  one  exception,  and  that  was  on  occasion  when  a 
prevailing  west  wind  and  some  smoke  cinders,  resulting  from 
coal  experiment  going  on  in  our  institution,  possibly  rendered 
us  subject  to  criticism  for  a short  time.  This,  of  course,  we 
were  glad  to  remedy  and  did  remedy  a long  time  ago. 

George  G.  Ford,  Credit  Manager. 


TAYLOR  INSTRUMENT  COMPANIES 

In  answer  to  your  communication  (your  Bulletin  No.  4-11, 
Prevention  of  Smoke  in  Rochester). 

Cf  We  do  not  know  how  valuable  our  experience  is;  we  have 
no  way  of  comparing,  but  have  done  considerable  ourselves  in 
the  line  of  experimentation. 

Our  plant  is  not  a very  large  one,  about  300  horse  power, 
and  it  is  possibly  nearer  kin  to  the  average  manufacturing  plant 
than  though  it  were  larger.  We  have  experimented  with  auto- 
matic stokers,  with  shaking  grates  and  careful  firing,  with 
steam  and  air  blast  blown  in  over  the  grates  and  of  the  three 
above  mentioned  methods  of  preventing  smoke,  we  are  now 
using  the  air  and  steam  blast  and  we  think  that  it  is  giving 
us  greater  satisfaction  than  either  of  the  other  two  methods. 
<1  Our  experience  is  such  in  the  attempt  to  abate  the  smoke 
nuisance,  that  we  are  prepared  to  say  positively , that  it  can  be 
materially  lessened  and  kept  well  within  the  limits  of  the 
requirements  of  the  Rochester  Ordinance  as  it  stands  at  pres- 
ent, unless  the  firemen  and  owners  get  careless,  and  in  which 
case  we  see  no  injustice  in  putting  a gentle  pressure  upon  them 
to  behave  themselves,  that  a conviction  and  fine  would  put,  and 
we  are  heartily  in  favor  of  all  legitimate  attempts  to  stop  the 
smoke  nuisance. 

We  are  in  a neighborhood  of  residences,  and  it  is  more  than 
possible  that  at  times  we  are  at  fault  in  this  matter  ourselves, 
and  we  welcome  the  gentle  pressure  from  the  inspector  and 
would  bear  no  animosity  toward  our  neighbors  who  can  criti- 
cize and  we  think  that  if  this  spirit  were  held  generally  by  the 
people  of  Rochester,  the  smoke  nuisance  would  disappear  like 
magic,  as  the  cost  of  installing  the  devices  for  eliminating 
smoke  is  returned  (from  our  experience)  in  fuel  saving. 

J.  M.  Taylor,  President. 


Air  and 
Steam 
Blasts 


GERMAN-AMERICAN  BUTTON  COMPANY 

It  may  interest  you  to  know  our  experience  along  the  line 
of  smoke  prevention.  We  have  a battery  of  3-150  H.  P.  Heine 

Boilers,  with  the Automatic  Furnace.  We  burn  slack, 

the  cheapest  grade  of  bituminous  coal.  Our  boilers  at  times 
are  heavily  overloaded,  and  it  is  only  on  the  very  rarest  occa- 


Page  thirteen 


« 


K 


One  Effect  of  Smoke 


Loss 

Through 

Smoke 


sions  that  we  see  any  smoke  at  all  coming  from  our  stack, 
and  then  only  a light  gray  color.  Would  say  for  our  particular 
case  the  problem  has  been  solved.  Should  be  very  glad  to 
show  these  results  to  any  interested  party. 

Lewis  H.  Russell, 
Assistant  Superintendent. 

SIBLEY,  LINDSAY  & CURR  CO. 

*1  Replying  to  Bulletin  No.  4-11,  subject,  “Prevention  of 
Smoke  in  Rochester”  we  desire  to  state  that  we  have  used 
smoke  consumers  on  the  Granite  Building  and  on  our  store 
building  for  several  years.  We  do  not  remember  of  ever  hav- 
ing a complaint  from  any  of  the  neighbors  or  from  anyone 
else  in  regard  to  smoke  from  our  chimneys. 

<1  Anyone  who  will  look  at  the  Granite  Building  will  notice 
that  notwithstanding  it  was  cleaned  at  the  expense  of  three 
thousand  dollars  after  the  fire,  it  is  worse  now  than  at  any  pre- 
vious time.  This  is  due  to  the  use  of  soft  coal  in  the  surround- 
ing buildings,  one  of  which  is  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
Building.  Rufus  A.  Sibley. 


To  Sum  it  All  Up 

A man  will  sometimes  have  a week’s  work  to  get  through 
in  a day.  Under  those  conditions,  the  man  will  make  the  dirt 
fly  until  he  accomplishes  the  task  before  him.  He  will  be  so 
busy  getting  things  done  that  he  will  not  pay  very  much  atten- 
tion to  the  way  he  does  them,  he  will  not  fuss  over  the  by- 
products, he  will  not  wonder  if  he  is  doing  the  work  most 
“efficiently” — he  will  simply  work  as  hard  as  he  can  and  GET 
THE  THING  DONE. 


<1  After  the  task  is  finished,  he  will  go  on  to  new  tasks  and 
these  will  occupy  his  attention  but  he  will  have  time  even- 
tually, to  stop  and  consider  his  work.  A Hindu  proverb  has 
it,  “A  Fool  used  an  Elephant  to  step  on  an  Ant.”  So  the  man 
will  wonder  if  he  used  too  much  force,  wasted  it,  in  fact,  in 
accomplishing  his  work.  He  will  consider  if  he  could  get  the 
same  thing  done  with  less  waste  and  less  cost. 

CJ  Rochester  has  been  in  the  place  of  the  man  who  had  so  much 
to  do  and  so  little  time  to  accomplish  it  all.  In  common  with 
rising  American  cities,  we  have  grown  too  fast  to  stop  and 
think  HOW  to  grow.  And  so  we  have  had  smoke.  We  have 
been  accustomed  to  it.  To  many,  it  has  not  occurred  that 
smoke  is  undesirable. 


K 


We  have  reached  the  stage  of  our  development  where  we 
have  time  to  think  about  the  best  way  of  doing  things.  This 
question  has  arisen:  WOULD  WE  NOT  BE  BETTER 
WITHOUT  BLACK  SMOKE? 


Page  fourteen 


Public  Opinion  and  Black  Smoke 


Some  manufacturers  believe  that  such  smoke  is  necessary 
to  their  success,  some  folk  do  not  think  it  does  any  harm. 
Others  feel  that  black  smoke  represents  individual  selfishness 
imposing  on  the  common  welfare.  In  all  calm  discussion,  it  is 
possible  to  sum  up  the  known  facts  and  balance  the  two  col- 
umns. Try  it  now. 


C[  The  air  in  the  country  is  admitted  to  be  better  than  that  of 
the  city.  Tubercular  people  are  sent  there  to  recover  their 
health.  Plants  and  flowers  thrive  better  in  the  country.  In 
the  judgment  of  experts  there  is  one  big  reason  for  these 
things — there  is  no  black  smoke  in  the  country.  If  black  smoke 
is  fatal  to  tubercular  lungs  it  must  be,  in  some  degree,  inimical 
to  normal  breathing  organs.  We  must  grant  that  black  smoke 
is  unhealthy.  YOU  would  enjoy  a greater  degree  of  health 
if  Rochester  were  free  from  it. 


Clean 

Air 

and  Health 


Firms  that  make  a business  of  removing  soot  from  buildings 
by  sand  blasting  are  prospering.  Soot  comes  from  black 
smoke.  If  soot  collects  on  the  OUTSIDE  of  the  building,  it 
must  also  collect  on  the  INSIDE.  Soot  can  be  removed  from 
stone  or  granite  but  it  cannot  be  cleaned  successfully  from 
merchandise.  We  must  also  grant  that  black  smoke  reduces 
the  value  of  merchandise.  YOUR  property  would  be  worth 
more  if  Rochester  were  free  from  it. 


Clean 

Air 

and  Mer- 
chandise 


<|  Public  opinion — YOUR  opinion  makes  Laws  and  Ordinances 
powerful.  Enforcement  becomes  simple  and  easy  when  the 
people  desire  a thing.  This  is  your  problem. 

«I  YOU  MUST  DECIDE  WHETHER  PUBLIC  HEALTH 
AND  THE  PROPERTY  OF  ALL  ARE  MORE  IMPOR- 
TANT THAN  THE  QUESTIONED  ADDITIONAL  IN- 
COME DERIVED  BY  COMPARATIVELY  FEW 
THROUGH  THE  PRODUCTION  OF  BLACK  SMOKE. 


Page  fifteen 


Published  by  the 

1911  Committee  on  Smoke  Abatement 

OF  THE 

Rochester  Chamber  of  Commerce 


Henry  W.  Morgan,  Chairman 
W.  C.  Edwards.  Secretary 


F.  A.  Brownell 
J.  DeWitt  Butts 
William  J.  Erdle 
C.  C.  Harper 
John  C.  McCurdy 
Charles  S.  Owen 


W.  W.  Powers 
Clinton  Rogers 
Hon.  J.  B.  M.  Stephens 
Norman  VanVoorhis 
Albert  N.  Wright 
Fred  Will,  Sr. 


12  0724031 


